‘All hell broke loose’: LawConnect wins Sydney to Hobart in wild finish

The Sydney to Hobart has witnessed one of the great race’s craziest finishes with high drama unfolding on Thursday morning.

Comanche and LawConnect neck and neck in the final stretch of the Sydney to Hobart 2023. Picture: James Bresnehan

LawConnect has produced one of the great comebacks to win line honours in the 78th Sydney to Hobart.

Skipper Christian Beck’s crew looked to have been blown away by rival Andoo Comanche after they entered the Derwent River within sight of each other.

However, it was LawConnect that mastered the flat Derwent conditions to storm home to win by just 11 seconds.

After 628-nautical miles and more than 19 hours of racing, there were just metres separating the pair as LawConnect crossed the line with a time of 19 hours, three minutes and 58 seconds.

LawConnect took the lead at about 7.55am (AEDT) before Andoo Comanche surged back to the lead with the finish line in sight.

It took a final masterstroke move from LawConnect’s Chris Nicholson to discover the wind pocket that picked them up past their rivals and over the finish line moments later at 8am (AEDT).

Comanche and LawConnect had been neck-and-neck in the final stretch of the Sydney to Hobart 2023. Picture: James Bresnehan

The 78th Sydney to Hobart finish narrows to Comanche and LawConnect. Picture: James Bresnehan.

“That’s so, so good,” Nicholson said. “What a race. It’s unbelievable.”

There was late drama when a spectator craft came close to Andoo Comanche in the final seconds of the race, foxsports.com.au reports.

A catamaran moved narrowly past the front of Andoo Comanche as it prepared for its final jibe, with Andoo Comanche sailors heard yelling and gesturing at the catamaran to get out of the way.

No protest has been lodged, and vision appears to show Andoo Comanche was marginally behind her rival at the time.

LawConnect’s sailing master Tony Mutter said: “It’s pretty fair that everyone had troubles with the spectator boats. That’s part of it, when it’s so busy.”

Andoo Comanche had a close call with a spectator craft in the final minutes.

Andoo Comanche and LawConnect had left the rest of the fleet in their wake with the battle for third position unfolding 90 nautical miles behind them.

URM Group currently leads Alive and Moneypenny in the race for third – still more than 70 nautical miles away from Constitution Dock.

Earlier, it appeared a technical problem was going to cost LawConnect a famous win.

LawConnect’s Tony Mutter described the drama on the first night when his yacht lost a main sail in the wild weather, News Corp first reported.

“The first day went OK through the daylight hours, and when night time came all hell broke loose because there was plenty on,” he said.

There have now been 11 retirements from the fleet of 103 yachts – but there are fears the number will grow dramatically on Thursday when the conditions are set to take a turn for the worse across Bass Straight.

Super Maxi LawConnect leads the race at Sydney Heads. Picture: Andy Cheung/Getty Images

Andoo Comanche had the lead as the crew made its final approach to Hobart. Picture: Rolex/Andrea Francolini

The problems are with the rest of the fleet, with only a handful of boats having actually cleared Bass Strait so far.

“There could easily be 30 retirements by tomorrow night,’’ meteorologist Roger Badham told News Corp late on Wednesday.

“There’s far worse to come for them. It’s not a nice place to be, Bass Strait tomorrow (Thursday). It just gets increasingly bad all day.’’

Scallywag was the first big casualty of the race after the Hong Kong-based sailing team’s bow sprit – which carries the yachts biggest sails – broke just hours into the race.

Scallywag had been the early leader and was in a fight with Andoo Comanche and LawConnect before it was forced to abandon its campaign.

Two more vessels were forced to retire in the early hours of Wednesday morning with Sticky and Maritimo 52 pulling out.

Sticky was forced to pull out with electrical damage, while Maritimo 52 had damage to rigging.

Small yacht Rum Rebellion was hit by a burst of water between Cronulla and Wollongong sending the boat on its side.

Shane Connelly was taken overboard and was a few metres from the boat but was able to swim back to it.

“We are both well and the main thing is our systems and drills all worked well,’’ he told News Corp.

Scallywag suffers equipment failure off NSW South Coast

Andoo Comanche (right) and SHK Scallywag sail towards Sydney Heads. Picture: Andy Cheung/Getty Images

As first reported by News Corp, Arcadia on Tuesday returned to Sydney with a torn mainsail and Rum Rebellion also turned back due to an unspecified reason.

Reigning champions Andoo Comanche and LawConnect are continuing to battle for line honours as they head towards Bass Straight.

Tuesday’s retirement was a gut-punch for the Scallywag crew which had already declared the 2023 Sydney to Hobart would be its last.

News Corp reported skipper David Witt and his crew were “devastated”. The vessel has returned safely back to Sydney.

The team earlier confirmed their sad news via its social media channels.

RETIREMENTS IN THE 2023 SYDNEY TO HOBART

Arcadia: Retired – mainsail damage

Currawong (TH): Retired – electrical issues

Maritimo 52: Retired – rigging damage

Pacman (TH): Retired – runner damage

Rum Rebellion (TH): Retired – minor injury

SHK Scallywag: Retired – broken bowsprit

Sticky: Retired – electrical damage

Georgia Express: Retired – rigging issues

Millennium Falcon: Retired – crew illness

Tumbleweed (TH): Retired – crew illness

Luna Blue: Retired – damaged equipment